A Friendly Way to Raise Capital

By Lauren van Horn & Tobi Adamolekun

July 31, 2012

Crowdfunding offers a number of benefits: It’s a cheap, quick way to raise small amounts of cash. It’s also a good way to get the word out about your product or company. Last month, we raised more than $16,500 to set up better production tooling for our hardwood eyewear stands.

We also learned something about how to make crowdfunding work:

Leverage your networks - Before you start, list a couple of networks that you can share your project with. For example your social streams; Facebook, Twitter, Path, etc.

You should also look at industry-specific networks. If you're making a cooking device, make sure you're plugged into some online cooking networks. (And don’t forget friends and family.)

Understand your market - Spend some time listing who might want/need your product. Then ask: What streams do they get their information from? Make a list of blogs, media outlets and other ways you can get the word out to your target market.

Learn - Use the interactive process of crowdfunding as an opportunity to learn about your product. We knew that the vertical stands (pictured above) would appeal to consumers and retail stores. By offering other models as rewards on Kickstarter, we were able to gauge their appeal to customers.

Revenue stream. What do you like or dislike about crowdfunding?

Lauren van Horn and Tobi Adamolekun are the co-founders of Bushakan eyewear stands.